Hornbeck's Creek
Emery's Rd. to Rte. 209
| Difficulty | IV-V+ |
| Length | 1.9 mi |
| Avg Gradient | 242 fpm |
| Gauge | Bush Kill at Shoemakers, Pa |
| Flow Rate as of 14 minutes | 2.13 ftbelow recommended |
| Reach Info Last Updated | April 19, 2011 |
River Description
Check out this video of Hornbecks Creek on You Tube! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OUHG-ig6GpI
According to Stephen Wright, this steep bit, which drops into the Delaware Water Gap, has '15 large, cascading drops in a beautiful canyon of about a mile.' On March 27, 2002, it was the scene of a nasty accident, as Bobby 'ZoneDogg' Miller slammed his head into the rock shelf at the bottom of the first drop. The impact knocked him unconscious; his fellow paddlers were skilled and on the scene right away, and as of this writing (3/28/02), his prognosis is good. Click here for Wright's description of the accident in Boater Talk.
Wright says they had a great time, but I think it goes without saying that you'd better be very skilled in steep creekin if you're contemplating this one.
Steve has kindly contributed the following description:
Shortly after the put-in is Bobby's Falls, a cascading falls that drops about 25 feet in roughly 20 feet of river. Then is Left-Turn, which is a steep slide into a pillow created by a wall that the water slams into, which then diverts the paddler left into the main runnout channel. Next is Let the Good Times Roll. It's a spectacular drop of 20 feel of a straight-forward steep slide into a deep pool.
Next is Twist and Shout, which is a series of close slides that twist and turn into the pool before Goliath Falls. Goliath Falls drops a total of more than 50', and has yet to be run to my knowledge. There were a few possible lines down, but all involved falling 15+ feet onto rocks, so we walked it.
The next major Rapid is Slot Machine, which I was the only one to run (it falls a total of 15-20 feet). As the slide begins, the water slopes left into a tiny channel which eventually drops into a boat-width slot which stays terribly narrow against a vertical rock-wall for 10 feet.
...River Features
Put In
Take Out
Trip Reports
Log in to add a reportWood Update: the bad log above twist and shout that wedge caught a few of us is now gone. There is new wood upstream but very visibly pinned on a longterm log in the flow. We rode up and over the Left side of it. We left it in spot as it will drift into a much worse location from where it currently is.
Wayne Gman:
I scouted the creek and the 30' bad log above twist and shout is now beached sort of high in the River Right setup eddy for twist and shout. In its current location it provides no hazard except High water could move it into play down stream. A little z-drag action could help this out a bunch..
There is a strainer in the upper gorge just before twist and shout aka elbow crusher. Its on the creek left side and very hard to see on a river Left scout. Boaters are regularly getting pinned under this large log each time I'm there. They usually get minimal help to get out or mostly to manage gear in the swim out. Scout it on river right to easily see the log. Make a bigger move to the right staying higher to miss the big log. My last run in February saw there was now another less troublesome log stacked in there too. Last seen you could ride out the right side around the one big log and over the new one in the landing pool. Its likely to pick up more wood in this pile.
just because its been run doesnt mean its runnable. Go left on Goliath and you wont be standing straight for a couple weeks
Hornbecks ran today with the Bushkill gauge at 2.3. The best way to check this creek is by the rain gauge. If Hornbecks is primed it will only take about a half inch in Edgemere to get it going. If the area is dry over an inch is what youll want to see before heading up there. Today was a good low level. Goliath was run by Eli Landis-I'll let him tell you about it. Slot machine got heavy looks, but no givers. Good lines on Davids aka 'Devils falls' according to an old local. He also called Goliath '5 fingers'. I managed to find a shelf at the bottom of Davids and pitoned hard! Creased my boat pretty bad-not to mention a hard hit at the bottom of a 25 ftr. I might suggest a further right line and separate a little from the back of the drop at the bottom. Try to keep the bow up too. I am going to swim in when the water drops to locate the piton shelf, there is definitely one in there! Have fun and Be safe!
A big hole forms here at higher water.
Joe Stumpfel is the only other person I know who has run this thing.
Graham on Bobby's, Let the Good Times Roll, Twist n Shout, and Davids.